Mistle Me
by ChristyCat
Summary: Lois is trying to get some work done despite it being the night of the Daily Planet Christmas Party. She is interupted, and some ways are nicer than others.


This is my little ditty for the 12daysofcloischallenge community on LJ. Hope you like!

Title: "Mistle Me"  
Author: brdwaybebe   
Category: Movieverse/Superman Returns  
Rating: PG-13  
Word Count: 1635  
Summary: Lois is trying to get some work done despite it being the night of the Daily Planet Christmas Party. She is interupted, and some ways are nicer than others  
Spoilers: Nah, I think you're pretty safe.

Author's Notes: Since my prompt was mistletoe, clearly this will be a fluffless, angst-ridden massacre fic. (grin) Many thanks to my merciful betas saavikam77 & seanmontgomery. May their muses be as kind to them as they have been to me. And whatever your holiday I pray it is merry and bright! -hugs 12days community- 

_'Mistle Me' _by Christy

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Lois Lane was looking forward to a quiet uninterrupted night of work. She could hear the distant rumblings of the Christmas party going on downstairs, the faded strains of 'Jingle Bell Rock' soaking through the floor for the fourth time.

Lois reached up and gathered her hair on top of her head and secured it with a clip to get it out of her face and bent over her work.

Suddenly, a loud noise pierced her ears, assaulting her nervous system and sending it into high alert. Lois whipped her head in the direction of the aural monstrosity and a gust of air propelled shiny green tinsel into her face.

"Merry Christmas, Lois!!"

Jimmy danced around her desk like an elf on a bender, tossing tinsel into the air and tooting on the offending horn in a jaunty series of blasts that didn't resemble any tune she'd ever heard. Lois turned in her chair, ready to throttle Jimmy, but the little sprite had already flitted away to deafen someone else.

Lois pulled a piece of tinsel from her hair and brushed the confetti off of her desk. She made a mental note to buy some canned air to get the glitter out from between the keys of her keyboard. While she was at it, she would get some duct tape and bind a certain photographer to the column in the center of the bullpen.

Lois blew the hair out of her eyes and slid her chair into her desk. She was working late tonight hoping to finish her series on the string of robberies where the criminals in question arrived decked out in red Santa suits. _Who says I'm not festive?_ Lois chuckled to herself as she ran the spell check for the third time. She never understood the green lines that kept appearing under her text and no matter how she flipped words and changed tenses the blasted thing kept suggesting she 'consider revising her fragment.'

"If I knew how to do that, I wouldn't have those green lines now would I?"

"Lois? Are you talking to your spell check again?"

Lois turned her head to see Clark Kent smiling down at her, a pair of cloth reindeer antlers protruding from his messy hair. He was covered in tinsel and he was holding a white plastic horn with green strings hanging from its opening. Clark followed Lois' gaze to the horn in his hand and he chuckled. "I wrestled this away from Jimmy before he could get himself killed." Clark's eyes took in her appearance as he tossed the horn into the trash bin by her desk. "He got you didn't he?" he asked, trying to hide his smile as he pulled another string of tinsel from her hair.

Lois let her eyes do the talking.

Clark laughed good naturedly, "Aww Lois, come on! Have some Christmas spirit!" He stood behind her chair and placed a hand on either of her shoulders, giving her a playful shake.

"I think my display of restraint was a lovely example of my Christmas spirit. My gift to Jimmy was saving him a trip to the emergency room to have that horn removed from his-" 

"Lois!"

Clark's eyes were wide in mock horror. He took off his hat and tossed it on his desk. He returned with two coffee mugs painted like reindeer with the antlers acting as handles. "Here." Clark placed a mug in front of her. "Have some eggnog with me."

Lois glanced at her computer screen. Clark reached past her and clicked the power button on the monitor, her text file faded as the screen grew black. He sat on the edge of her desk with a disarming smile on his face.

"Clark…" 

He picked up her mug and pressed it into her hand. "Have some eggnog with me and I'll proofread your article for you so it will resemble something like the English language."

Clark held out his mug and looked at her expectantly. Lois sighed and bumped her ceramic mug against his with a tiny 'clink.' She took a sip of the sweet beverage and ignored his victorious grin as she took another larger drink. She narrowed her eyes at him over the rim of the mug.

"See? Not so bad is it? Keep this up and your heart might grow three sizes."

Lois snorted, swirling her mug and watching the eggnog coat the sides of the cup. "I imagine it will with all the cholesterol in this drink." She tilted her head back and finished the last of it.

Clark only smiled. "Want another one?" he asked knowingly.

Lois gave him a grudging smile and lifted her empty mug. "Don't think I'm going to bob for peanut brittle or play _"Pin the buttons on uncomfortably life-like Santa." _

Clark laughed, took her mug and went to get her a refill.

Lois leaned back in her chair, and shook her head. Clark Kent must have been the Ghost of Christmas Present in one too many Corn Festival plays back home. He was annoyingly efficient at dragging her into his jovial world of optimism.

It wasn't that she didn't like Christmas, she just didn't understand why people lost their sense of dignity around the holidays. Lois didn't really understand the appeal. She rolled her chair over to Clark's desk and picked up his discarded antlers. The jingle bells chimed softly as she turned them over in her hand. Looking around to make sure no one was watching she put them on her head, leaning forward to get a look at herself in Clark's computer monitor.

Lois couldn't help but laugh at her reflection. She looked about thirteen with her upswept hair poking out of the antlers at every angle. A smile lit up her features and her mind was flooded with a host of Christmas memories from years past, memories she thought had been buried in years of society-fed cynicism.

Clark was upon her before she could remove the antlers.  
"Busted," He grinned toothily, sitting beside her. He handed her her second mug of eggnog.

This time Lois smiled back as she accepted the beverage. She saw his eyes flicker above her head and snap back down again. He ducked his head, a blush coloring his cheeks.

Lois tilted her head in curiosity at his sudden shyness.

"What is it, Clark?"

His blush deepened and his eyes returned to a spot just above her head.

Lois craned her neck and spied a delicate spring of mistletoe hanging directly above her head. 

Lois grinned and put down her mug.

"Come here, Clark."

"W-What?" His eyes were wide and did little to detract from the crimson of his cheeks.

Lois hooked the toe of her shoe under his chair and attempted to roll him toward her. Finding him too heavy to move, she gave up and gave him a look. Clark responded with a look of his own and rolled slowly toward her, his head tilted to one side. Lois took his mug from his hand and set it beside hers.

"Was there a little too much 'Christmas Cheer' in my eggnog or are you asking me to get under the mistletoe with you?"

Lois grinned and wrapped her fingers around the lapel of his overcoat. She pulled him close.

"Ok..." Lois leaned toward him and tilted her face toward his before she lost her nerve and the need to be dignified returned, "go!" Lois squeezed her eyes shut and waited.

"What do you mean; 'Okay go'?" You look like you're waiting for me to bite you!" Clark exclaimed.

Clark was so close Lois could feel his breath on her cheek. She opened her eyes.

"I'm trying to be…festive." Her voiced was hushed by his closed proximity. 

"That's not how you kiss under the mistletoe," Clark said softly, not moving away from her, an unreadable emotion flickering into his eyes as a soft smile tugged at his lips.

Lois' eyebrow twitched upward slightly. "Oh no?"

"No." Clark's finger stroked her cheek before coming to a stop at her chin and guiding her lips toward him, "This is."

Before she had a chance to make a comment, his head made its final dip toward hers and his lips brushed softly against her own. Lois's startled breath caught in her throat. The taste of eggnog clung to his lips adding to the sweetness of him as his mouth slanted across hers. His kiss was both chaste and utterly intoxicating all at the same time.

Lois leaned into him, her fingers curling tighter around his lapel. Her lips tingled as his brushed back and forth across them. Goose bumps formed on her forearms in juxtaposition to the warmth spreading through her belly. Her heart slammed against the wall over her chest, her blood rushed so loudly in her ears, she was sure he could hear it too. Lois slid her hands over the soft material of his suit, finding a moment of pleasant surprise at the vastness of his chest.

Clark's hands slid around her waist holding her steady. She wrapped her arms around his neck trying to find an anchor in a world she found to be suddenly spinning.

It took her a moment to realize Clark had pulled his head back. Her own cheeks flushed in embarrassment at the disappointed groan that was coaxed from her at the abrupt conclusion of the kiss. When she slowly dragged her eyes open, Lois swore she saw amusement flash through the blue depths of his eyes.

"I…stand corrected." She whispered, her eyes fixed on his. Clark didn't back away immediately and Lois could still feel the warmth of his lips on her own. He smiled shyly at her and traced the curve of her jaw with the back of his fingers.

"Merry Christmas, Lois."


End file.
